Have I been using adjDEX right?

bluekitsune13 · 05-04-2018, 11:19 PM

It's been a while since I've played TFT. One of the things I liked about the system was its flow of battle. I understand the basic concepts of your Dex. I know that certain things you do can increase or decrease your Dex, such as using different equipment, attacking a figure from the side or back, or taking so much damage and a round.

The one thing I wasn't sure if I am doing right is when it comes to initiative in combat using your adjusted Dex. The way I've played, which might not be the way that the rules were written, was this. After everyone has moved, you declare your actions for the round. The person with the lowest adjusted dexterity has to declare first. Then you just go up the line. I made a little bored with a Tracker that has numbers 20 to 0, representing dexterity. Each player had a token that they would put on the tracker that shows where they are in initiative order.

Sometimes your initiative order may change depending on the action that you declare. For example if you are attacking a character in the side or rear, you get that dexterity bonus. That means your initiative can jump higher. Or if during the round, you take so much damage in one hit, you will take a dexterity penalty. If you hadn't had your turn, then your turn might be delayed.

I don't know if this is the right way to play, but I had a fun doing it this way. It Maids turns very Dynamic, and made you make some tough decisions.

Skarg · 05-04-2018, 11:59 PM

Sounds like you did it right but backwards. There's no need to declare actions in reverse-DX order.

Start with the highest adjDX figure choosing an action and resolving that action. Then the next highest adjDX.

bluekitsune13 · 05-05-2018, 07:01 AM

Cool. Maybe that was just a house rule back in the day about declaring actions starting with the lowest Dex. The reasoning behind it was that characters with a higher Dex could react to what the other characters were doing.

I think this system was very very good, and would love to see it expanded. I've worked on a few homebrews myself, but nothing super serious.

Skarg · 05-05-2018, 03:59 PM

The rules do talk about declaring your Option during your Movement Phase, but that's done by the side moving first in any order, and then by the opposing side that moves second. Since you can change your Option to respond to events, there's usually little real need to say what your Option is during Movement except to help you handle what you're intending and remember how far you moved (because THAT limits what you can do when your Action comes up, well and also what you're doing can affect your adjDX, which can affect when you act).

And yes, TFT remains my favorite RPG & person-level combat system for its level of complexity.

Kirk · 05-05-2018, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skarg

The rules do talk about declaring your Option during your Movement Phase, but that's done by the side moving first in any order, and then by the opposing side that moves second. Since you can change your Option to respond to events, there's usually little real need to say what your Option is during Movement except to help you handle what you're intending and remember how far you moved (because THAT limits what you can do when your Action comes up, well and also what you're doing can affect your adjDX, which can affect when you act).

And yes, TFT remains my favorite RPG & person-level combat system for its level of complexity.

Generally, yes, I agree with this.

For the OP, we went through this in another thread, but the reason we play as we read the rules (everyone declares option then executes movement portion, side moving first determined by initiative roll) is that it does matter what you choose.

If I move more than half my movement, for example, I can't declare dodge, for example, and the person moving afterwards knows this. Another example, if I declare defend after moving half or less, and someone later has a higher DX than I do and attacks me, I am defending and that is that.

If the actions come around to me at some point, and no one has invoked my defend option, then I can change my option based on how far I moved. If everyone waits to declare until the action phase it just seems to be a circular mess, and isn't how we interpret the rules as they are written.

05-04-2018, 11:19 PM	#1
bluekitsune13 Join Date: Feb 2018	Have I been using adjDEX right? It's been a while since I've played TFT. One of the things I liked about the system was its flow of battle. I understand the basic concepts of your Dex. I know that certain things you do can increase or decrease your Dex, such as using different equipment, attacking a figure from the side or back, or taking so much damage and a round. The one thing I wasn't sure if I am doing right is when it comes to initiative in combat using your adjusted Dex. The way I've played, which might not be the way that the rules were written, was this. After everyone has moved, you declare your actions for the round. The person with the lowest adjusted dexterity has to declare first. Then you just go up the line. I made a little bored with a Tracker that has numbers 20 to 0, representing dexterity. Each player had a token that they would put on the tracker that shows where they are in initiative order. Sometimes your initiative order may change depending on the action that you declare. For example if you are attacking a character in the side or rear, you get that dexterity bonus. That means your initiative can jump higher. Or if during the round, you take so much damage in one hit, you will take a dexterity penalty. If you hadn't had your turn, then your turn might be delayed. I don't know if this is the right way to play, but I had a fun doing it this way. It Maids turns very Dynamic, and made you make some tough decisions.

05-04-2018, 11:59 PM	#2
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Have I been using adjDEX right? Sounds like you did it right but backwards. There's no need to declare actions in reverse-DX order. Start with the highest adjDX figure choosing an action and resolving that action. Then the next highest adjDX.

05-05-2018, 07:01 AM	#3
bluekitsune13 Join Date: Feb 2018	Re: Have I been using adjDEX right? Cool. Maybe that was just a house rule back in the day about declaring actions starting with the lowest Dex. The reasoning behind it was that characters with a higher Dex could react to what the other characters were doing. I think this system was very very good, and would love to see it expanded. I've worked on a few homebrews myself, but nothing super serious.

05-05-2018, 03:59 PM	#4
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Have I been using adjDEX right? The rules do talk about declaring your Option during your Movement Phase, but that's done by the side moving first in any order, and then by the opposing side that moves second. Since you can change your Option to respond to events, there's usually little real need to say what your Option is during Movement except to help you handle what you're intending and remember how far you moved (because THAT limits what you can do when your Action comes up, well and also what you're doing can affect your adjDX, which can affect when you act). And yes, TFT remains my favorite RPG & person-level combat system for its level of complexity.